I sadly won't be able to make the gathering this year because I'm giving a panel at the exact same time. I'll see if I can swing by right after and say hello if there's still people around, though.

Awww, well at least your panels got approved! Hope having them be Friday heavy won't cut too much into your karaoke time as if I'm recalling correctly, you said in the past that's something you usually attend on Fanime Friday.

Yeah, I'm happy that my panels got approved! I'm doing "Bunnysuit Boot Camp" and "Sewing with Knits" this year, and they're both brand-new panels, so it should be good

I won't be able to do the karaoke contest, but thankfully open mic tends to start much later at night on Friday, so that's not an issue. I'll be sure to sing plenty of old school songs (as usual)!

All good to hear, congratulations on your panels being approved!

And now for the Friday update -

Good morning old schoolers! Looking out the window you would think it's mid February here in Fanime's backyard. Doesn't put a damper on my plans as it's all small papier-mache stuff right now anyway. I am curious as to whether a small package shipped from Kawasaki, Japan via SAL will get here before a small package shipped FedEx from Jo-Ann Craft Stores in Ohio. Shipped on the same day, I say it's 50/50 either way. If anyone is waiting on something in the mail for cosplay, I hope it arrives faster than my stuff is getting to me.

I'm going to run through a bunch of OPs today as Fanime is fast approaching and I'm feeling more in the vintage / classic / old school anime spirit than usual.

Let's begin with my favorite anime OP, from the original Mobile Police Patlabor OVA series. Bursting with positivity, looking toward the assumed endless prosperity of ten years into the future from a Japan still well within the bubble economy, we have a pop love song about a police officer and her hardware. As juvenile as Noa Izumi may seem while working on her AV-98 Ingram, which she christens "Alphonse" to follow in the lineage of her childhood pets, once an alert is sounded that all drops away and it's time for work. I've always loved Patlabor as it isn't just about ordinary people in uncommon situations, it exists in a world where those situations that would be uncommon to the viewer, are simply general mundane life to the inhabitants of the world.

I also can't think of many anime franchises that began as an OVA created by a group of people who were allowed to do exactly what they wanted, lead to a feature film (my all time favorite anime film at that), which in turn spawned a TV series that had two extensions and a follow-up OVA series of its own, with a separate manga series running at the same time, a second feature film (often regarded as Mamoru Oshii's master work), a later side-story film, a live action television series and film, and most recently an animated short last year.

Fifty years and a few days ago, the very first episode of Mach GoGoGo aired in Japan. Tatsuo Yoshida himself created the manga series, combining the automotive gadgets featured in Goldfinger with the rally racing and visual style featured in Viva Las Vegas - along with his experience creating earlier auto racing manga. While the anime version was only moderately successful in Japan, it took on a life of its own when it was redeveloped as Speed Racer for export into the west.

Good morning old schoolers! With a holiday weekend on the horizon I hope you're all doing well and that your cosplay plans are coming along. More and more confirmed details concerning event details for FanimeCon are starting to roll out, so I'm sure many of us are getting a better grasp on our convention plans. I myself have decided which gatherings I'm going to attend and also finally worked out my convention weekend cosplay plans. For the OSG this year (and again on Monday) my cohost and I will be cosplaying as Ryo Saeba and Kaori Makimura from City Hunter.

As I'm going to be away tomorrow, there won't be any Saturday OPs this week so I'm going to go all out this morning and post a whole bunch of them over the next couple hours. I do apologize to the small group who may find the weekly rush of OP posts a nuisance, but man does it get me in the mood for this gathering - and for Fanime in general!

To kick things off, taking into consideration my now set cosplay schedule, I though we'd begin with another of my favorite openings. I love City Hunter, both the anime and the manga, the specials and movies and even the "alternate reality" spin-off Angel Heart. City Hunter '91 was the final TV series send-off of the franchise, featuring thirteen episodes that seem created specifically for fans of the series. Episode 10, "My Love For Tonight Only - Cinderella Story in the City" is one of my favorite stories Tsukasa Hojo ever created, and is extremely heart-wrenching for those who have spent over 120 episodes with the characters up until that point.

The City Hunter '91 opening is a callback to shots and scenes the very first opening from the original series four years earlier. Featuring Ryo and Kaori dancing in their performer outfits, Ryo with a montage of women who were all characters in the previous three series, the main cast either being carried by or riding on crows and dragonflies (the sweatdrops of City Hunter), pan shot of Ryo looking at Kaori over his shoulder - a direct rework of him looking at Saeko in the original OP - showing how he and Kaori have grown together, and the ending shot is a direct re-creation of the same in the original OP except it now features the expanded cast. I can't think of a better "thank you and farewell" OP than this one.

Going to go outside anime for this one for a little old school tokusatsu. Ultraseven will be celebrating it's 50th anniversary this October. Easily my favorite tokusatsu series of all time and one of the classic Ultra series that you can get legally on DVD, subtitled in English, for like 35 bucks. Not just an amazing tokusatsu series, not just the perfect Ultra series, not just an incredible sci-fi drama, but an absolute labor of love that would have a profound influence on Japanese popular culture.

How about a series that has a little bit of Ultraseven influence in it? Yeah, I'm sure some you could guess this one. I recently watched all of Dragon Ball again (and I'm currently slowly working my way through Dragon Ball Z once more) and was reminded of how much I really enjoy it and how visually interesting the entire series is.

And to finish off for this week, and because I'm a total ham and I've been listening to the soundtrack albums all morning, the second original City Hunter OP. Seriously though, if you like 80's anime tunes and especially if you like jazz music, check out the City Hunter soundtracks - especially the four albums that make up the soundtrack from the first two series. Outstanding stuff!

Good morning old schoolers! I have so much convention activity to catch up on after being away for a week. Also locking down my final FanimeCon cosplay purchases this morning and with just about a month or so of real "work time" ahead, I do hope that everyone's plans are coming together well. I actually think I'm starting to get a little behind myself - time to fix that!

I'm going to post a bunch of OP's today, as with the last couple weeks, there are a lot of them I want to get through and they motivate me to get working.

I'll kick things off with a series that is FINALLY (and understandably very slowly) being fansubbed. Based very loosely on E.E. "Doc" Smith's Lensman books - a masterpiece of science fiction that would go on to influence, if not nearly create in a sense, the entire genre itself - the anime film "SF New Century Lensman" was released in 1984. It would be dubbed into English a couple times, the second dub by Streamline being tremendously better than the earlier rework. Along with Robot Carnival and Vampire Hunter D it would be one of the first three anime films shown on The Sci-Fi Channel, eventually kicking off their annual anime showcase, which eventually became a weekly anime block. However in Japan a twenty-five episode expanded alternate retelling of the story was created and released shorty after the film, titled "Galactic Patrol Lensman." To be very honest, neither the film or series have much to do with E.E. Smith's original story, which is rumored to be the sticking point as to why there never really was much of a home video release of either. Yeah, it can be really cheesy sometimes and seems to want to be Star Wars a little too much (ironic as Star Wars is very obviously influenced by what was originally the first Lensman book, Galactic Patrol), but damn do I love the art style, think the spacecraft designs are beautiful, find the music outstanding, and just enjoy the film and what I've seen subtitled of the series immensely.

An absolutely stunning opening and an outstanding OVA at that. The first Zeiram live action film (which the anime serves as a loose prequel to) is a lot of fun as well, although the sequel live action film isn't that great in my opinion.

1994 was such a great year for anime, let's stay there for awhile. Future GPX Cyber Formula Zero is my personal favorite series out of the franchise, as it's when the story really gets room to breathe, sideline characters come into their own, and everyone starts to begin to grow up. Osamu Sugo also has a much larger and more grounded role at this point, being my favorite character in Cyber Formula.

Another series from 1994, and one that surprisingly seems to have a minuscule fandom compared to what it once generated. Doesn't keep the localized version of the Sega Saturn game from reaching the pricing stratosphere in the resale market however!

Talk about a forgotten series! I can remember a time when it seemed anyone with even a passing interest in anime was at least loosely familiar with Airbats. Two years ago at Fanime I ran into an Arisa Mitaka cosplayer but she was snapping pictures on the lower concourse and moved on before I could complement her. If by some strange chance you happen to be reading this, the guy who was wearing the bullet train that day says, "You are awesome!"

One more Gundam series for today and my personal favorite, although I do admit that the story itself is very ho-hum compared to some others. However the visual style and over all art design still makes this my favorite Gundam series.

Good morning old schoolers! We're about ready to flip the calendar over to May, leaving just a little over three full weeks until Fanime is upon us. I hope everyone else isn't as far behind as I am! Pretty crazy since I thought I was quite a bit ahead for a change. It appears that the Cosplay Gatherings Department official gathering list will be set in stone next week and while this shouldn't affect the Old School Gathering any, it will make definitively laying out convention cosplay plans far easier.

For OPs today let's do a morning batch of a few and then an evening batch of a few more. How about a manga series set in 1974, that began publication in 1986, had its first anime adaptation in 1990, then a second anime series that is running to this day? Although everyone is far more familiar with the first ending theme, Odoru Pompokolin (which had a wonderful English cover by Captain Jack, eventually featured on DDR 5thMIX), the opening for Chibi Maruko-chan is one of my favorites. Additionally it's also currently being fansubbed - finally!

While Chibi Maruko-chan is an institution in Japan and a fansub finally beginning this late in the game is more due to differing cultural appeal, things are a bit different with this next series. Finding success only in Japan and with a later Italian dub, F is one I'd really love to see subtitled in English one day. I tend to enjoy motorsports anime (especially Cyber Formula and Bari Bari Densetsu - well, the short little movie that the manga spawned) and everything about this series seems like it would be right up my alley. As for the opening, I love the visual design, the music, the animation - everything. This is in my top three for "most desired English subtitled series."

Okay, both of those may be relatively obscure to the mainstream audience in the USA, so here's the other side of the coin. Apparently Atsuko Nakajima, who had a rather large hand in the anime adaptations of Rumiko Takahashi's works, such as Ranma 1/2, was an animation director on F.

One more for today. There's something about this late 1960's / early 1970's animation style from many studios that I find appealing. Character designs by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko, in what I believe to be his first project!

A genre-creating tactical RPG / dating sim set in a mashup of fantasy and science fiction, Sakura Wars soon exploded into one of the most popular gaming multimedia franchises of the late 1990's / early 2000's... in Japan. It spawned a ton more main series games and spinoffs (my favorite being Hanagumi Taisen Columns for the Saturn), a bunch of OVAs, a film, stage shows, light novels, a manga series, and in 2000 a television adaptation. This is one of those massive series that is only known very narrowly in the West.

After yesterday I'm trying to work the desire to watch a bunch of motorsports anime out of my system, so let's see if this OP will clear that up. Short as Future GPX Cyber Formula SIN was (only six episodes) it had multiple openings, this one being my favorite of them. Somewhat of a somber send-off to the series, as was SIN as a whole, the emphasis was placed on the redemption of Bleed Kaga. Originally a secondary character in the first series, he becomes more and more predominate in the cast throughout the franchise. While SIN concluded in 2000, Cyber Formula video games would be released until 2012, all generally fitting into the same coherent timeline. I still consider Cyber Formula the most realistic motorsports series as the characters, the teams, the corporations, the technology, all grow and change in a realistic fashion as the different series play out.

Good afternoon old schoolers! Fanime is getting REAL close REAL fast, hopefully you're farther ahead of the game than I am currently! FanimeCon Cosplay Gatherings Department has finalized their gatherings list, which can be found on their Facebook page. Be sure to thank CGD staff if you see them at FanimeCon as they do so much to ensure we are able to have these official gatherings.

Rather than OPs today, I though we would mix things up and do a few EDs! That's right, anime endings are sometimes just as impressive or impactful as their openings. Starting off with the series that features an ending theme said to be most popular ending theme of any anime series of the 1990's, returning once again from last week, Chibi Maruko-chan.

I know it was mentioned before when the Bismark OP was posted, but the Bismark ED is an amazing little piece of animation in my opinion. The ending for so much 90's shojo anime seems to mirror it in some way. Still my number one series that I wish was available subtitled!

One of the more stylistic endings I can think of, once Macross settled in, it would end with this live action sequence of Hikaru flipping through his photo album. This sequence also ties into the ending of the final episode, a really nice touch.

I couldn't post endings without this one, as it is just so spectacular and bittersweet and the perfect way to conclude each episode of Cutey Honey. And yes, I will always spell it that way, because that's how it was spelled for years and years.

Ah, I do love Tsukasa Hojo's creations. Always glamorous, detailed, humorous, and with very interesting concepts. They are also some of the best representations of 1980's animation and Japanese popular culture in general.

To finish off Friday and this special selection of anime endings, my favorite ending anime theme, from Sailor Moon R. In the late 1990's into the very early 2000's a MIDI file of this is what used to greet visitors to my Sailor Moon fansite. Ah, those golden days of online fandom!

Before today's Saturday OPs, I want to announce that re-licensing hell has officially frozen over and Discotek Media has announced they will be re-releasing Marmalade Boy on DVD. Pretty crazy, all things considered.

Let's kick today off with a series that everyone likes, if even just a little. I remember the first time I saw Urusei Yatsura was on San Jose public access television, and then of course later the amazing second film reaching so many audiences via the Sci-Fi Channel.

Next, another series that everyone seems to be at least a little okay with, even if they have only passing interest in the mecha genre. Similar to 0080 War in the Pocket, the 08th MS team has a much more practical and approachable viewpoint than a vast bulk of the Gundam franchise, and really requires no preconceptions from its audience going in. It's kind of like if there was a Gundam series that leaned more toward Armored Trooper VOTOMS.

If a series started pre-2001, but is still ongoing today, does it still count as old school?

Yes, the conclusion date or span of duration of which a series ran doesn't matter, it just has to begin before 2001. A good example is Sazae-san, for instance. The manga began in 1946 and the TV series that began in 1969 is still running to this day.

Good morning old schoolers! Here we are, two weeks out until the gathering! How are everyone's plans coming? I need to finish up painting and sealing a prop and do some wig styling but it's all within the timeline. I'll also be expanding the photography order list later today to try and encompass everything I can think of that may involve this massively diverse gathering. As with last year, my wife (then girlfriend) is planned to be the gathering's unofficial photographer - and as with last year, we will get the pictures online within a week of the gathering's conclusion.

Since we're so close to Fanime, I'm going to do rapid fire OPs for today, beginning with a series that was massively important for a franchise to gaining ground in North America, although it's a series in that franchise I personally don't care for all that much.

Here's one that most people that are my age (30's) I meet seem to really enjoy, or at least remember. I recall that when it was in syndication as Ronin Warriors, on the leading edge of the anime boom in the USA, it was easily the most "Japanese" of the shows we got and pretty much left intact.

Good morning old schoolers! Here we are, one week away from the gathering! Before we get going today I do want to make sure and continue to spread the information that if you are planning on staying at a Fanime hotel that you check your reservation and make sure everything is still in tact. There have a been a reasonably large number of cancellations due to the hotels attempting to place an advance charge, especially with the Fairmont. With that out of the way, back to fun stuff.

I'm going to post a bunch more anime OPs today, and then again tomorrow. Immediately after this post goes live the gathering photography order list will be given its final update. If you attended last year then you know I am not a rigid gathering host in any way, so if there is any kind of grouping, pairing, or whatever you would like a picture of, just let me know at the gathering - requests at the end of the photo list are there for that reason! Hosting this gathering is a way for me to give back just a little to the massively diverse fandoms that created the anime industry in the first place.

Well I had another OP to start out with, but pretty much exactly one week from right this moment I will be settling into the Nostalgia Room at Fanime to watch City Hunter, so I'm leading off with something different. I am so stoked that my wife and I decided to cosplay City Hunter on Friday for the Old School Cosplay Gathering. However I've burned through the City Hunter, City Hunter 3, and City Hunter '91 openings, but hey there's still City Hunter 2. City Hunter 2 easily contains some of the most dramatic story arcs in the entire franchise, more or less culminating with episodes 49 and 50 which are, in my opinion anyway, the pinnacle of the more serious side of Ryo and Kaori's adventures as sweepers in Shinjuku. So here we are, kicking off one week until the gathering.

Time for Saturday OPs - the final Saturday OPs of the year! AAAAAHHHHHHhhhh! Seriously though, hope everyone is enjoying their weekend - the calm before the storm.

I will probably make a final rallying post around Wednesday or so, however I do want to make a note, that unofficial photos from the gathering will be posted at Mokkori Cosplay (facebook.com/mokkoricosplay) within a week of the gathering, just like last year. These will be high resolution, non-watermarked, completely untouched photos that you are free to tag, download, put in your cosplay profiles, whatever. This link will also be provided in the Old School Cosplay Gathering thread on the Fanime.com forums.

As Facebook tends to eat event pages from search after an event takes place, you may want to bookmark the event page, follow Mokkori Cosplay, or keep an eye on the Fanime.com forum thread a week or so after the gathering concludes.

On this last Saturday before the con I want to say again to each and every one of you, thank you all so much for your interest in this gathering. If you know of other pre-2001 series cosplayers, please spread the word - let's eventually build this into a 100+ strong attendee gathering into the future.

Picture this, you're NEC and you recently partnered with Hudson Soft to enter the video game industry as a console manufacturer. The release of your console, the PC Engine, has been extremely successful in Japan, finding a massive mainstream audience. Far too much later, you decide to release it in the United States, as the TurboGrafx-16, and you need to choose what the pack-in title will be. How about The Legendary Axe? That's a great game, and would blow away Sega's Altered Beast (the pack-in with the Genesis at the time, which is having abysmal performance in Japan as the Mega Drive). But no no no, how about we rework a licensed anime game, that's rather underwhelming, and release it as Keith Courage in Alpha Zones? ...wait, what?! Yup, here's the anime series that in an indirect way doomed the PC Engine outside of Japan.

Ah, the black sheep of a humongous franchise. While Macross II isn't terrible or anything, and in my opinion the good does outweigh the bad, at the end of the day it's just kind of boring. But what do I know?

And one final OP / ED post for this year! As I stated this morning, I will make a final rallying update post both here and on the forums during the middle of next week. Thank you again everyone! I hope to see you all at the gathering on Friday evening!

For the last video, well, I couldn't resist. Amazing to think this was 30 years ago.

There's an outside chance I'll show for this. I'm one pair of yellow baggy pants away from having a complete enough Secret of Mana cosplay (it looks like a darker yellow on the spritesheet anyways; this character is so minor I can't find even a fanart reference)

There's an outside chance I'll show for this. I'm one pair of yellow baggy pants away from having a complete enough Secret of Mana cosplay (it looks like a darker yellow on the spritesheet anyways; this character is so minor I can't find even a fanart reference)

Just about 24 hours to go until the gathering. We should be in the gathering area around this time tomorrow, getting checked in at the gathering's table and so forth. (and probably running props back and forth to the car)

I've updated the second post with some visual aides for those who may be unfamiliar with the new gathering location, Gatherings G2.

Thank you! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU to all who attended or showed interest in this gathering!!

Thank you to the awesome Cosplay Gatherings Department for all the support they provide to allow us to host these gatherings!!!

Unofficial photos from the gathering co-host will be up within the week at facebook.com/mokkoricosplay - when that gallery goes live I will also add it to the first post here, as well as post it on the Facebook event page (although Facebook likes to hide events after they happen).

As other gathering albums surface after con, I will post their links in the first post here as well!

If you have photos from this gathering, PLEASE post a link to your gallery as a reply and I will collect them for a photo index on the first post!

We will absolutely be back for 2018 to host this gathering on Friday evening!! Bigger and better every year!